The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
